[meteorite-list] Antarctic Meteorite Treaty?

From: Rosemary Hackney <ltcrose_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:00:07 2004
Message-ID: <002401c22dcb$8ed797e0$c2974cd8_at_default>

I have 1.86 grams of Lazerev and 2.2 grams of Thiel Mts. and some small
micros of ALH.

Rosie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Prochaska" <fprochas_at_premier1.net>
To: "Jeff Kuyken" <jeff_at_meteoritesaustralia.com>; "Meteorite List"
<meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 1:38 PM
Subject: RE: [meteorite-list] Antarctic Meteorite Treaty?


> Hello!
>
> I did some research and inquiries on this list on this topic about a year
> ago. I had quite a bit of correspondence with people publicly on the
list,
> privately with list members, as well as with folks with NASA. The
question
> as you phrased it seems simple enough, but I have yet to find a simple
> answer.
>
> The antarctic treaty originally grew out of discussions associated with
the
> international geophysical year in the late 50s, and it seems that formal
> treaties were signed by the mid-60s. However, "the treaty" is not a
single
> static document that nations signed in the 60s. Periodically,
> representatives get back together at international conferences and make
> modifications. If you look up the treaty itself, it really does not seem
to
> say much that impacts meteorites and private collection or ownership. It
is
> these other agreements or modifications that are made under the authority
of
> the treaty and so become part of it, that are important to your question.
> These modifications have proven difficult for me to trace back, and it
seems
> that sale or trade of meteorites collected from antarctica was acceptable
> for a period of time beyond the signing of the original treaty, through at
> least 1976. (In or slighly after 1976, NASA traded a number of new samples
> to private collections, but this was prior to the formal arrangement with
> the Smithsonian to curate NASA's antarctic material.) I should say as
well
> that the treaty and agreements do not specifically prohibit sale or
private
> ownership of material from antarctica. The agreements do provide that
> geologic and biologic material may only be removed from the continent for
> research and educational purposes, and from a practical standpoint, this
is
> the provision used (by the governments of the signatories to the treaty)
to
> exclude private ownership and retain all material in government
collections.
> I should also point out that at this point it seems that almost every
> country on the planet has signed this treaty.
>
> I corresponded with several different folks who put me in touch with
various
> people in the United States involved in the legal aspects of this treaty.
I
> sent them questions regarding the treaty implications to our hobby,
however,
> none of these contacts chose to reply.
>
> The other thing that I did was try to establish which antarctic meteorites
> were in fact in private collections. I have compiled the following list
> from two general sources: the Catalog of Meteorites, and members of this
> list who were kind enough to send me names of meteorites they either had
in
> their own collections or knew of in other private collections.
>
> I went through the entries for each antarctic meteorite in the Catalog,
and
> noted which had samples recorded in private collections and a total of how
> much, if listed. This list is:
>
> Adelie Land, L5, 1 g
> ALH 76001, L6, 89.9 g
> ALH 76003, L6, 13.2 g
> ALH 76005, Euc, 9.5 g
> ALH 76006, H6, 19.2 g
> ALH 76008, H6, 6.4 g
> ALH 76009, L6, 513.2 g
> Mount Baldr, H6, 55.5 g
> Theil Mountains, Pal, 43 g
>
> IMPORTANT NOTE about this list: I was interested in total amount in
private
> collections because I thought that if I knew for sure that only a certain
> amount of a particular meteorite was available, and someone was offering
> more than that amount, I would know something was wrong. However, the
> information in the catalog is not complete enough to establish this. For
> example, I have 33 grams of Theil Mtns in my collection, and other have a
> lot more than 10 grams. I also have 44 grams of ALH 76009, but I doubt I
> hold 8 - 9% of the total amount of this meteorite in private hands. The
> total weights in private hands may be closer to representative for the
less
> common meteorites like ALH 76005, but certainly not close for ones like
> Thiel Mtns and 76009 (I believe that two dealers were involved in new
trades
> in the early 90's that made this additional material available).
>
> In addition to the above, list members gave the following examples from
> their own or other private collections:
>
> Derrick Peak
> Lazarev
> Neptune Mountains.
>
> For these, I would not hazard a guess as to how much is actually available
> for each of these, but it is not a large amount.
>
> List members have also related to me that institutions are very reluctant
to
> trade even those meteorites that appear to be "pre-treaty" finds and
already
> somewhat available in the market. It took some very long negotiations and
> the trade of some exquisite material to secure the Lazarev samples that
are
> currently available, for example.
>
> If any list member has corrections or additions to this list, please send
> them to me. I would greatly appreciate it!
>
> I hope this helps!
>
> Frank Prochaska
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: meteorite-list-admin_at_meteoritecentral.com
> [mailto:meteorite-list-admin_at_meteoritecentral.com]On Behalf Of Jeff
> Kuyken
> Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 8:10 AM
> To: Meteorite List
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Antarctic Meteorite Treaty?
>
>
> G'day List,
>
> Could someone please let me know in which year the Antarctic Treaty
started?
> And therefore what the last year was which you can leagally purchase
> specimens from. Much appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jeff Kuyken
> I.M.C.A. #3085
> www.meteoritesaustralia.com
>
>
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Received on Wed 17 Jul 2002 03:52:59 PM PDT